[michaelaarghh]

I’m still struggling to actually invert with my handspring / cartwheel (I get mixed up with the different names) but I am getting closer and closer.
What I’ve found is that it’s a MASSIVE push with that bottom arm, and in the past (when I’ve made no progress) I was relying purely on that top arm. Do you have someone who can spot you and try to lift your hips up as you swoop your leg? I found doing this really showed my body just how massive that push with that bototm arm is.

[michaelaarghh]

We also use trigger finger!!
I’ve been told as well as helping with alignment, it’s to stop from over-gripping with that bottom hand. Like jkpolegirl said, to help push with it and not bear down your weight there.
leyrose – I used to find it really weird and didn’t like it, but now I do it without even noticing!

[michaelaarghh]

My hands are so sweaty, so poling in summer is always an issue for me. I really struggle on brass in high humidity / sweaty conditions, and am sometimes unable to even do a pole sit.
As well as that, the skin on the rest of my body is quite dry, so I will have days in summer where the temps and humidity is high, that my legs stick like glue (and I’ve torn skin in the past) but my hands are still really slippery, regardless of how much metho / dry hands / other hand grips I use.

That being said, I find my chrome pole works much better in these conditions. When my chrome pole is warm, I find sticking really easy. When it’s cold, I slip and slide. I also find on my chrome pole using windex and a microfibre cloth is the best cleaner. It gets off any gunk, but it kind of warms the pole up and makes it easier to stick to.

[michaelaarghh]

I’m also planning a routine at the moment! I’ve done it twice before, but I still find it pretty hard.
I usually start by choosing a song (yay you’ve done that too!) and then I make a list of moves I would like to put in it. Depending on how far away the performance is I’ll include moves that I’ve almost got down but still need work. Then I work out basic combos for a couple of the moves. For example, invert -> V -> Crucifix -> handstand.
Then I usually print the lyrics of the music off and like chemgoddess said, look at certain points of the song and know what I want out of the performance. So, for example if the chorus is really fast I might do some spinny stuff there, so I work in the combos around the tempo of the song.
I studied music, but I don’t know much about it and I don’t dance to counts either, I literally just go off what ‘sounds / feels right’.
Then I just practice the combos with the different parts of the song, maybe freestyle bits and work out what feels best. Then practice, practice, practice!!

Like chemmy said, you want to include moves that are second nature to you. If I have a couple of months before the performance i will try to include harder moves because I have time to work on them, but otherwise only stick with what you know you can do without thinking.

[michaelaarghh]

When I was learning this, we were taught first to sit on the ground, then hitch up one hip so we were essentially sitting on one butt cheek.
THAT is how much tilt you need on the pole for a pole sit! Like others have said it can be such an illusion, but it’s more about the hip tilt than the leg placement.
In the bottom right picture you look quite tilted so I would say hold that and you’re very ,very close!

[michaelaarghh]

that pigeon pose is definitely more of a backbend than an upper back stretch i think. (although it’s all important and connected)
I also struggle with shoulder and upper back flexibility and have found that the wall stretch that Lina posted has been amazing. I have made so much progress with it, and it can get so deep.

[michaelaarghh]

aww leyrose i thought that would be the case 🙁 i’m really sorry to hear that.
poledanceromance pretty much summed up my thoughts on this too.
pole makes you happy, (and you are crazy good at it, i’m so jealous!) and it’s not okay for anyone to tell you that you can’t do something that makes you that happy. i feel like your boyfriend or girlfriend (or romantic partner…wife, husband etc) is the one person who should be there to support you no matter what, and if they have a problem with something you’re doing they know you better than anyone to have a conversation about it.
serving up ultimatums and demanding your other half to give up something they like doesn’t resolve anything, and if anything, only leads to resentment. i really hope you can talk to him about this, and that it’s not okay to demand things from you, and it’s not okay to be unsupportive.

[michaelaarghh]

why did he make you delete it 🙁

[michaelaarghh]

yep like runemist mentioned, i find doing one handed spins is a LOT of lat work, to make sure you’re properly engaged and not just “hanging out” of that shoulder joint.
so it’s mostly a strength thing.
i haven’t poled on a 45mm, only a 40mm and a 38mm, and yes i definitely think being on a thicker pole would make it harder, but ultimately it comes down to muscle strength.

[michaelaarghh]

yep, like veena said rhomboids would probably be where you would mostly be feeling it. then when you start doing heavy lifting with that hold you will start to feel it in your lats!
as long as you keep shoulders down and back you will be in a proper form 🙂

[michaelaarghh]

i absolutely love brass in winter, i find it super, super sticky. but i hate it when it’s humid in the summer, and much prefer my chrome 🙂

[michaelaarghh]

i have no idea what a python or genie is????
but i just re-grip into a cup grip and lower myself onto the floor.

[michaelaarghh]

i’m another one for photogrid!! i love how simple and quick it is to use that app! other than that i don’t really do any photo editing 🙂

[michaelaarghh]

This is a really interesting thread to read !
I really liked the point about pole stepping away from showcasing and now being all about competitions. I don’t feel I am ‘qualified’ to have much thought on the matter, but like the poster before me, I want everyone to feel encouraged and welcomed into the pole community and if they feel there needs to be categories for them, then power to them.

I do think, however, that determining by BMI is a stupid idea since it’s such a stupid measurement to begin with. If you’re a slim person with a heap of muscle (which let’s be honest, a lot of pro polers probs are) your BMI will probably be really high and may even put you in the overweight / obese category.

[michaelaarghh]

We did conditioning for it by holding the twisted grip, standing in front of the floor feet flat on the ground and then lifting knees to chest.
It’s a great conditioning exercise for your core as well as your shoulders. But you have to be really careful to dead lift and not jump into it (that obviously defeats the purpose!)

[michaelaarghh]

Twisted grip is pretty common here in Australia, but we also have v skinny poles (38mm). I can’t imagine TG on a thick pole would feel too great.
I can definitely see TG handspring being really dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing, and it can be quite jerky. Again, I feel like if you don’t have the strength and are kicking into a TG shoulder mount, again…that can be dangerous.
But I personally like twisted grip shoulder mounts. You’re using different muscles than you would in a cup grip for instance… TG is a lot of core and you use a lot of lats, as well as some of the muscles in your shoulder, whereas cup grip is also a lot of core, but a lot more shoulder and a lot less lats.

I personally really like twisted grip, and especially when I’m inverted. But, it can be dangerous and I think you should keep in mind what your body is capable of (e.g. if you don’t have the shoulder flexibility work up to that rather than just pushing past it)

[michaelaarghh]

or they’re hard to find!! (by a landlord? hahahah!)

[michaelaarghh]

yep, directly over one joist.
I think what Robyn has said about finding joists is the best way to do it. In the place we’re living now, I climbed up into the crawl space of the roof to see the joists and lined them up with my boyfriend standing on a ladder underneath me. We then used a pin to double check and it was all good.

[michaelaarghh]

I agree with trying it low to the ground…that way if you fall you don’t have far to go and are a lot less likely to get injured.
I also fell out of superman (there’s a vid on my profile that’s actually pretty hilarious). I found that finding out WHY I fell, and what went wrong really helped me to overcome my fear of the move.
xx

[michaelaarghh]

I didn’t learn to invert until about 5 months into pole. Like everyone else has said, keep strengthening and conditioning and you will get there.
The basic invert is a big move. You are lifting your entire body weight with your arms and flipping yourself upside down. That’s not easy, so don’t beat yourself up because you’re not there yet!
Don’t even worry about aerial invert if you can’t do an invert off the floor. They should be thought of as separate moves because one requires a lot more strength than the other.
With proper technique and strengthening you will get there eventually. xx

[michaelaarghh]

Absolutely go and see a doctor or physio if you think you’ve done damage to your rotator cuff. It’s such a large group of muscles and even once you’re no longer in ‘pain’ the muscles may still be weak so if you don’t rehab them properly and build the strength back up it’s too easy to damage them again.
I tore my rotator cuff when I was 15 and holy moly it was agony. For about two years I could not move my shoulder at all. (With physio appointments every week) I wore it constantly in a sling because even just having it by my side was putting too much pressure on it. Then when I took the sling off and tried to move it, even with physical therapy I could not lift my arm higher than my shoulder. I seriously thought I was going to be disabled in that arm. I’ve spent the last 6 years very aware of my rotator cuff and trying to protect, strengthen and stretch it.
So just be very, very careful.

I’m kind of hesitant to even say ‘google exercises to do’ because you don’t know what you’ve hurt or what you’ve actually done. Shoulders are too important, go see a dr!

[michaelaarghh]

I don’t really understand how your tail bone is even making contact with the pole?

[michaelaarghh]

That looks awesome Kobajo!!

and Silver Sylph, stretching progress is always slow, but you look fantastic! You’re a lot closer than me! I have been deep stretching at least once a week, and light stretching 2-3 times a week as well on top of that!

I will upload my photo later this week…I am still quite far from the splits but maybe this time next year I will have it…what a great progress photo it will make!

[michaelaarghh]

Yep where is the squeak coming from? I had some issues with this with my xpole and contacted them about it they were able to tell me what it was and get it fixed but knowing where the squeak is coming from is necessary to determine if its the top adapter , ball bearings etc etc

[michaelaarghh]

litlbit, did you even read this forum? No one is complaining that they are being told to wear too much? with all due respect I think it’s a little different saying to a student “you must have skin contact on your thighs to grip the pole for your safety” as opposed to “your shorts must be this many cm long and cover this percentage of your skin so everyone else feels comfortable looking at you”.

I feel that everyone should only be concerned with what they’re wearing. Sometimes I wear shorts to class that show a little bit of butt crease. I only ever wear a sports bra / shorts combo. Other girls in my class always wear a singlet. The point is, everyone should feel comfortable wearing whatever they damn well feel like, within reason. If there is a particular student practically being naked and flashing their bits all over the place, then that’s a different story and they should be spoken to in private.